Tesla's Model S is the new car for Californians

The auto maker with one model is outselling 10 top brands.

If you've been seeing an overabundance of Tesla Model S's in California lately, there's a very good reason for that, as Quartz tells us. In June 2013, Tesla, a manufacturer making only one model, outsold Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Fiat, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mitsubishi, Porsche and Volvo.

According to the sales figures (opens PDF file), Tesla took home 12% of the luxury sports category, beating the Audi A6 and Lexus GS, in the first half of 2013. From our review of the Model S back in February, it's plain to see why.

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Of the 4714 Model S's sold in the first half of 2013, 1097 of them were sold in June alone. It also outsold the Audi A4, the Mercedes M Class, the BMW X5 and various compact cars and sport utility vehicles. It's worth noting that full-electric cars now account for 1.1% of the California auto market. If you compare that to the 0.7% that plug-in hybrids like Chevy's Volt account for, it's even more impressive.

In June 2012, when the Model S was released, only eight were sold. With the numbers that it's generating now, after only being around for just over a year, I think it's safe to say that Elon Musk is probably pretty satisfied.